Singapore Property Beginner’s GuideResale Property Transactions

What Is a Caveat, and Why Do Property Transaction Records Use It?

A caveat is a notice a buyer lodges to claim an interest in a property. URA builds resale records from caveats, so the data has gaps. What it shows.

By Propwise3 min read

A caveat is a notice, lodged with the land registry, that claims an interest in a property and stops other dealings in it. URA builds its private resale and sub-sale records from caveats. So a transaction record is really a record of a caveat lodged, not a count of every sale.

What a caveat is

The word is Latin for “let him beware”. Think of it as a “reserved” sign on a table at a hawker centre, but one the law takes seriously.

Under section 115 of the Land Titles Act 1993, a person who claims an interest in land may lodge a caveat with the Registrar. The caveat names the caveator and the owner (the caveatee). It states the interest claimed and the grounds.

If the caveator is a purchaser, it also states the purchase price and the date of the contract or option exercise.

While a caveat is effective, section 119 generally bars the Registrar from registering a dealing that the caveat prohibits. That is how a caveat protects the buyer’s interest after signing. A caveat can lapse after 5 years unless it is extended (section 121).

Who lodges it

The buyer usually does. URA says buyers lodge caveats with the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) after the option to purchase is exercised or the sale and purchase agreement is signed. It also says lodging is not mandatory, so some sales have no caveat.

Why the data says “caveats lodged”

URA’s methodology page says resale and sub-sale records come from caveats lodged with SLA. Copies reach URA twice a week. Since 25 May 2015, new-sale records come from developers’ weekly returns instead.

From signed contract to URA recordResale and sub-sale records come from caveats. New-sale records come from developers.
Resale and sub-saleContract madeOption exercised orsale agreement signedCaveat lodgedBuyer lodges it withSLA (not mandatory)Copy to URAUpdated everyTuesday and FridayURA recordShown in the searchand in REALISNew sale (from 25 May 2015)Developer sellsa new unitDeveloper returnsReported to URA,updated every FridayURA recordSame search andREALIS database

Schematic. A sale with no caveat does not appear in the resale record. Source: URA, REALIS coverage and methodology; URA, private residential transactions.

URA says its database may miss deals with no caveat. Its price indices still count them, since contracts go to IRAS for stamp duty. URA may also drop a few outlier prices.

What a record shows, and what it does not

  • Price as lodged. URA says it is the agreed purchase price in the contract. It excludes stamp duties, legal fees and agency fees.
  • Contract month, not day. The data we hold has month precision only.
  • Bulk deals. One caveat can cover many units. We count it once, and it has no price or price per sq ft, so it stays out of our rankings.
  • No promise of completion. A caveat is a claim, not proof that the sale completed. Our refresh drops rows that URA cancels.

How our tables use caveats

URA’s totals count records, not units, and so do ours. In Sep 2026, the URA data we hold shows 1,170 private resale records, executive condominiums excluded.

Private home sales each monthCaveats lodged by month of contract: new sales, resales and sub-sales. Excludes executive condominiums.
  • New sales (from developers)
  • Resales
  • Sub-sales
Private home sales each month. Monthly private home sales rise and fall with new launches. New sales spike in launch months, while resales run steadily at about a thousand a month.01,0002,0003,0004,00020222023202420252026Private home sales each month. Monthly private home sales rise and fall with new launches. New sales spike in launch months, while resales run steadily at about a thousand a month.01,0002,0003,0004,00020222023202420252026

Latest: New 299 (Sep 2026); Resale 1,170 (Sep 2026); Sub-sale 36 (Sep 2026).

Counts are caveats, as in URA's own quarterly totals, not units. A month appears once it is complete: URA adds late-lodged caveats for about two weeks.

Table view
PeriodNew sales (from developers)ResalesSub-sales
Sep 20262991,17036
Aug 20261661,17144
Jul 20267331,27245
Jun 20261631,25757
May 20264381,21572
Apr 20261,5421,29851
Mar 20261,2641,11945
Feb 20262471,11845
Jan 202645998258
Dec 20251961,08459
Nov 20253251,10867
Oct 20252,4051,30177
Sep 20252411,34062
Aug 20252,1201,30987
Jul 20259041,28072
Jun 20252661,14379
May 20252861,15969
Apr 20256331,37987
Mar 20257081,408112
Feb 20251,5671,17796
Jan 20251,0561,05794
Dec 20241981,164109
Nov 20242,4851,22792
Oct 20246911,296123
Sep 20243561,22999
Aug 20241921,299117
Jul 20245391,325108
Jun 20242171,019137
May 20242091,390123
Apr 20242781,405158
Mar 20247111,087102
Feb 2024151885128
Jan 2024292881123
Dec 2023138856150
Nov 2023760975141
Oct 2023196980150
Sep 2023210875117
Aug 20233611,071141
Jul 20231,3491,022118
Jun 202326198891
May 20239841,120107
Apr 20238431,01396
Mar 20234501,291116
Feb 202339186870
Jan 202337359448
Dec 202216278660
Nov 202223890960
Oct 20222841,04474
Sep 20229491,31368
Aug 20224191,22090
Jul 20228021,18868
Jun 20224601,32171
May 20221,2761,34054
Apr 20226081,53046
Mar 20226501,33552
Feb 202253594434
Jan 20226121,07841
Dec 20216401,53262
Nov 20211,4681,61847
Oct 20218921,60939

Source: URA. Data to Sep 2026.

Three rules shape our tables:

  • Latest month is partial. We call a month complete only after the 15th of the next month, because late caveats arrive in that time. Our deal tables label that month “month so far”.
  • Landed repeats. The API repeats some landed caveats. We count identical landed rows once. About 19% of landed resale rows were extra copies when we checked.
  • Medians are not an index. Our median price per sq ft moves with the mix of projects sold. It is not quality-adjusted like the URA price index.

Our weekly deal tables rank top and bottom prices per sq ft and the most traded condos from these records. Each table says which month it covers.

Limits and exceptions

  • Deals without a caveat can be missing from URA’s search.
  • A caveat’s price is the contract price, so it can differ from a valuation or the cash a buyer paid over it.
  • Our HDB resale tables use HDB’s resale prices dataset on data.gov.sg, not caveats.
  • This is a plain-words definition, not legal advice.
caveaturarealistransactionslingo

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